The Influence of Extracorporeal Irradiation of the Blood and Lymph on Skin Homograft Rejection

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Abstract
The effect of extracorporeal irradiation (ECI) of the circulating blood before and after skin homografting in calves survival was described in 13 calves. In all the ECI-treated calves the normal acute and violent skin homograft rejection process occurring at 9 to 10 days was modified to a mild and slow process with an increase in rejection time by 1 to 11 days. In 1 calf, where thoracic duct lymph was drained for 8 days and cell-free lymph was returned to the animal followed by 4 days of ECI of lymph, the skin graft rejection time was 40 days. Lymph drainage from the thoracic duct for 24 days and return of cell-free lymph to the animal prolonged the homograft rejection time to 18 days, and ECI of thoracic duct lymph for 22 days prolonged graft rejection time to 17 days. In 1 animal no prolongation of homograft rejection was obtained with lymph drainage for 10 days and return of cell-free lymph to the animal. In 2 animals where ECI of lymph was continued after skin grafting, the homografts on that part of the body not solely drained by thoracic duct were rejected at 22 and 27 days, whereas the homografts on that part of the body which is drained solely by the thoracic duct were not rejected for as long as ECI of the lymph was continued (day 29 and day 61).